


Pets

by yeaka



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 19:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20972168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Regis doesn’t explain the not-birds and not-bees.





	Pets

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy XV or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

More often than Regis would like, his son is brought to the dining hall by someone else entirely. As king of the entire nation, Regis simply doesn’t have the time to be as good a father as he wants. But every once in a while, he forces the issue. He excuses himself early from his council, because even if he can only offer a few short moments, he needs to do that. He lets himself into Noctis’ room and notes with a pang of sadness that Noctis no longer runs to him upon entry. 

Noctis is currently seated at his desk, his tiny legs kicking idly back and forth. He’s drawing with crayons and doesn’t look up until Regis is standing right over him, the corresponding shadow cast far across the page. Then he greets, “Hi, dad.”

“Good evening, Noct,” Regis returns, then checks, “Are you ready for dinner?”

Noctis ignores the question. Instead, he swivels around in his chair to look up at Regis. He announces with adult-like confidence, “I’ve decided what kind of pet I’m getting.”

“Have you now?” Regis isn’t bothered—in fact, he was the one to first suggest the idea. It pains him to be away from his son’s side so often, but he knows that he must, and that time would probably seem less lonely to Noctis if he had something else to fill the gap. Besides, a pet is a good way to teach early responsibilities. Taking care of an animal will be small practice for the much grander duties he’ll hold as an adult. 

He nods and holds up his drawing, which looks like a crudely drawn table with a growling face and thin tail. “I want a manticore.”

After a few seconds of silence, Regis lifts his brow and repeats, “A manticore.”

Noctis nods again. He looks completely serious. Or as serious as a child so small can look, at least. 

As diplomatically as he can, Regis suggests, “Perhaps a more... normal... animal might be best. How about a cat?”

Noctis shakes his head, even though Regis knows for a fact that he’s quite fond of cats. “Nuh-uh, I want the manticore.”

“Noct... I’m sorry. But... I can’t do that.”

Noctis actually looks physically taken aback, like Regis promised him the world and then failed to deliver. “Why not?”

It seems absurd to even have to explain, but Regis politely does: “Well, son... they don’t _exist_.”

“But they could.”

Regis lifts his other brow. 

Noctis stubbornly insists, “You just put a scorpion and a lion together and they’ll make manticore babies.”

Regis _almost_ laughs. Only several dozen years of diplomatic training keep his chuckle at bay. He tries to explain again. “I don’t think that would work.”

“Why not?”

“...I don’t suppose they’ve mentioned in your classes yet how babies are made?”

Noctis shakes his head, then says, “You just put two things together, right?”

“Well, yes, but... even if a lion loved a scorpion very much... he couldn’t do anything about it...”

“_Why not?_”

For oh so many reasons. Regis settles on, “The lion is just too big for the scorpion.”

For a moment, Noctis actually looks crestfallen. “Then... what about all the glaives? Do they always have to be alone?”

“What?”

“They’re way bigger than everybody else...”

As that’s a fair point, Regis diverts to: “They also have to be the same thing.”

Noctis looks even more horrified. “Then I can’t be with Luna!”

“Luna?”

“She’s a girl, dad! I’m a _boy_!”

Regis stealthily disguises his next laugh as a cough. He waits until he catches his breath before continuing. “No, that’s fine. You’re both human. But a lion has lion parts, and he’d have to... you see, that is... he’d have to put certain _lion_ parts in the scorpion, and the scorpion is just too small.”

“Can’t the scorpion put its tail in the lion’s mouth?”

Regis can’t deal with it anymore. He just can’t. He stares at Noctis for a long, painfully adorable moment, then promises, “We’ll have this discussion later.” Way later. Once he’s had time to figure out how in the world he’s going to cover that subject. “For now, I think we should just go to dinner. The chefs will be waiting.”

“But what about my manticore?”

“I’ll tell you what, Noct. If you come to dinner now and eat _all_ your vegetables, you can have _two_ kittens.”

Apparently, two kittens are better than one manticore, because Noctis immediately perks up. He agrees, “Okay,” and hops out of his chair.


End file.
